UNSC Permanent seat – Why Nehru rejected?

UNSC Permanent seat – Why Nehru rejected?

1950 August

UN meeting

• Vijayalakshmi Pandit, India’s ambassador to US (1949 -51) sister of JL Nehru
• John Foster Dulles, Advisor to the US President Harry Truman and later US Secretary of state
• Letters of Vijayalakshmi pandit reveals what happened at the meeting
• Americans had proposed – replace China with India in the UNSC
• But India rejected.

Was it a – Right decision? Or Himalayan blunder?

Why did Nehru rejected the offer?

1945 UNO formed

• One of the influential agency – UNSC with 5 members –

1. USA
2. USSR
3. China
4. UK
5. France

China:

• China was fighting a civil war over 20 years between the nationalists and communists.
• 1949 Communists won the civil war under Mao Tse Dong
• USA did not liked the idea of another communist country being a part of the UNSC
• So The Communist China was not allowed to be a member.
• Hence the US planned to replace China with India.

US

John foster was very keen and asked

1. Vijayalakshmi pandit

But she asked US to

go slow on the decision, as India was not keen. She wrote to PM Nehru. He rejected.

1. Washington post columnist to build public opinion on this issue.

The reasons are –

1. To avoid a confrontation with China
2. To avoid breaking the relations with China
3. UNSC permanent seat should not be at the cost of China.
4. To avoid the anger from China
5. Mao would wage a war (which any he did in 1962)
6. The offer from USA was not genuine. It was only a feeler from the US
7. US was trying to

• drive a wedge between India and China and
• trying to recruit India into the western alliance

Nehru proposed –

• If China backs, India will accept a permanent seat.

1951:

• US and China were at war in Korea.
• There was no question of US accepting the return of China

12 years after the proposal –

• China attacked India
• Even today the relationship is proxy.
• Nehru’s Idea of keeping the Chinese happy did not worked.

1955

• USSR proposed India as a permanent membership to expand the UNSC. The came from Nikolai Bulganin, former premier of Soviet Union.  The offer went directly to Jawaharlal Nehru, without any mediators.
• India rejected.

Nehru said –

• “ We are opposed to pushing ourselves forward to occupy certain positions because that may itself create difficulties. We feel that this should not be done till the question of China’s admission and possibly of others is first solved.”
• The same old argument about China.

Three things to be observed in the Nehru’s statement –

1. He was clearly hesitant
2. India will not push it self in to any position
3. Admit others before admitting India

Who are these others and why they should be admitted before India? No one knows.

Bulganin agreed with India.

• We are just trying to understand India’s position and get your opinion. And the time was not right.
• This was another missed opportunity.
• Nehru considered these were not the serious offers.

1955 –

• Nehru was grilled in parliament on UNSC seat.

Nehru replied –

• There has been no offer formal or informal of this kind. Some vague references have appeared in the press about it, which have no foundation in fact.
• If India would have been added as the sixth member.
• There was no replacement of China with India as proposed by USA.
• There was nothing to worry about China in the Soviet proposal.
• US would have agreed to it.
• But India never tried

Nehru had his own reasons for the rejection –

1. He was an idealist
2. He thought the UN charter was a holy
3. He thought India was not ready

(His statement to Bulganin confirmed that)

• In his 1955 sixteen days visit to USSR, Nehru wrote –

“ we have said that India is not anxious to enter the security council at this stage even though as a great country she ought to be there”

• A permanent seat would have helped India in multiple occasions like –

1. Kashmir
2. In 1962 Chinese war
3. In 1971 Bangladesh war

Instead we were at the mercy of the western powers.

Example:

• During the 1971 Bangladesh war, USA was passing multiple resolutions to force India to stop the war. Thankfully the Soviet vetoed all of them.
• What if they the soviet hadn’t vetoed?
• India would have no choice but to stop fighting
• Bangladesh would have been under the Pakistan control.
• So, having a permanent seat would have helped.

But today –

• We are definitely ready
• India deserves a place in the UNSC because –

1. It is the largest democracy in the world.
2. Largest populated country
3. Nuclear power
4. Super player in the space economy

•  If India does not deserve a seat, who does?
• India, Russia, UK and France are still supporting India’s permanent seat.
• But China is opposing for whom Nehru rejected two offers.

1. Though there were offers, why India did not accepted the UNSC permanent membership in 1950 and 1955? Does India really deserve a permanent seat now? (250 words) 15 Marks.

The Security Council, the United Nations’ principal crisis-management body, is empowered to impose binding obligations on the member states to maintain peace

• UNSC has 5 permanent members including –

1. USA
2. USSR
3. China
4. UK
5. France

• India was offered a permanent seat in UNSC twice –

1. In 1950 by the US
2. In 1955 by the USSR

• The US offer was rejected because – USA wanted to replace China with India. Hence, India did not accepted US proposal
  1. To avoid a confrontation with China
  2. To avoid breaking the relations with China
  3. To avoid the anger from China
• The offer from USA was not genuine. It was only intended to prevent communist China but not respect for India.
• US was trying to –
• drive a wedge between India and China and
• trying to recruit India into the western alliance

Hence India proposed that –

• If China continues to be a permanent member of UNSC, India will accept a permanent seat.
• Similarly, India rejected the Soviet proposal in 1955 as a 6^th member but not to replace China. But still India rejected the proposal to be in the good books of China.
• However, today India deserves the permanent seat in UNSC because India’s place in the world is –

1. The largest populated country
2. The largest democracy
3. Seventh largest nuclear super power
4. Sixth largest space power
5. Fifth largest economy
6. Fourth largest military power

Today India will not shy away or hesitate to accept the permanent seat. India is at the global high table on many occasions. Hence she deserves a permanent seat in the most influential body in the world.